Saturday Supercade (1983)

Video games were exploding in popularity in the 1980s. Characters from several of the more popular games were featured in "Saturday Supercade," a weekly cartoon series perhaps most notable for being Donkey Kong's first starring appearance in a cartoon series. The famous gorilla starred in his own segment, this time as a well-meaning but slow-witted (and sometimes easily manipulated) gorilla who had escaped the circus; his trainer, Mario, and then-girlfriend Pauline (of whom Donkey Kong had a huge crush), tried to capture the large ape. Other segments included "Donkey Kong Jr.," the famous gorilla's young son who was aided in his search by his human friend, Bones; "Frogger," about an investigative amphibious reporter for the Swamp Gazette; "Pitfall," featuring the adventures of Pitfall Harry, his pet mountain lion Quickclaw and his niece Rhonda as they traveled through the forest in search of treasure; and "Q*Bert," about the misadventures of a teen-aged orange creature. The latter two segments were shown on alternate weeks during the first season. During the show's second season, only "Donkey Kong" and "Q*Bert" returned. Two new segments included "Kangaroo," about a young mother kangaroo and her son, Joey, who were constantly harassed by a quartet of mischievous monkeys; and "Space Ace," a teen-ager who fought aliens plotting to invade Earth.